Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor design technology, and more particularly, to a fuse circuit of a semiconductor device.
A semiconductor device includes a fuse circuit to set up an internal circuit, to change options of an internal circuit, or to program repair addresses. Predetermined setup information is changed or addresses are stored by changing electric connection states of fuses in the fuse circuit through fuse programming. The electric connection states of fuses are changed when a laser beam or an electric stress is applied to the fuses. That is, the electric resistance of fuses is changed if the laser beam or the electric stress is applied to the fuses. Therefore, predetermined data is programmed using the variation of electrical connection states of fuses such as a short state or an open state.
A laser blowing type fuse shorts an electric connection state of a fuse using a laser beam. The laser blowing type fuse is generally referred to as a physical fuse. The physical fuse changes an electrical connection state thereof using a laser beam in a wafer stage. Here, the wafer stage is a manufacturing stage before a semiconductor device is manufactured as a package. The physical fuse may be referred to as a laser fuse.
In a package stage, an electric method is used instead of using the physical method that uses a laser beam. A fuse that can be programmed in a package stage is referred to as an electrical fuse (E-Fuse). That is, the electrical fuse changes programming by changing an electric connection state of a fuse by applying electrical stress such as over-current or high voltage. The electrical fuse may be classified into an anti-type fuse and a blowing type fuse. The anti-type fuse changes an electric connection state from an open state to a short state, and the blowing type fuse changes an electric connection state from a short state to an open state. The electrical fuse is widely used in a package stage because the electrical fuse can be programmed after a package process. However, the electrical fuse is very large in size compared to the physical fuse and requires a control circuit for controlling fuses. Therefore, the electrical fuse is limited in an application range and in a setup capacity.
Therefore, there is a demand of developing a fuse having a small size like a physical fuse and having capability of performing a repair process even after packaging like an electrical fuse.